Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum

Hello everyone.   A few weeks ago, Joe and I were headed west on I-70 to go to the hot springs in Glenwood Springs.   I knew that the museum has recently moved, and I was anxious to go check out the new space.   

There were two exhibits running at the time, “SAQA: Under the Western Sun” and “Buffalo Bill: Quilting the Wild West”.

Both exhibits were fantastic, and I thought I’d share a few photos of some of the works that caught my eye…   I hope you enjoy, and if you can, the exhibit runs through July 22, 2017.   

“Bye, Bye Buckaroos: Vanishing West Series” by Theresa L Fleming – Parker, Colorado
“Longhorn Bull” by Heather Cotterman – Elizabeth, CO
“Boot Quilt” by Rebecca Schwartz – Niwot, CO
“Fertile Hills” by Jean Herman – Denver, CO
“On Dahlias” by Shannon M. Conley – Moore, OK
“Larger Than Life” by Carol Kolf – Sheridan, WY
“Canyon Wrapped in Starlight” by Melody Money – Boulder, CO
“Golden Canyon” by Vicki Conley – Ruidoso Downs, NM
“Remembering John Denver/Fire in the Sky” by Char D. Punke – Albuquerque, NM
I hope this small glimpse of the show, will entice you to go see the full exhibit.   More information can be found at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum website.  

Thanks for stopping by, and happy quilting to you!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

Beautiful Embroidery Quilt

image2Hello everyone.  Yesterday, I had the honor of quilting the next quilt by Moda fabric designers, Sweetwater.  I cannot show you any photos, but I can say that they have once again created a beautiful work of art.  You can see a few photos of their new fabric line at their blog.  Sweetwater Blog

What I can show you… is the beautiful embroidered quilt above.  I’m working on it today.

I’ve been working up to this one.  Intricate designs are a natural for custom quilting.  The stitches and the stabilizer add quite a bit of bulk in those areas, so I knew I would have to do a lot of stitch-in-the-ditch (SID) quilting.  I know what you’re thinking… That’s pretty easy, right?  Well, not exactly.  Straight lines are some of the most difficult quilting, since you can tell if it’s not quite straight.  Also, I am pretty particular which quilts will be a candidate for this type of stitching.  If the piecing is not really precise, SID will just accentuate the flaws in the piecing.

This quilt, however, is pieced very well.  I am writing this post, as I’m taking a break.  I just completed the SID, and started the free-motion work on the top border.  The great part about stabilizing the quilt with SID, is that now, I can jump around to any area, and work on it, without the fear of running into a problem with pushing extra bulk into the wrong area.

I think I’ll mostly free-hand this quilt, except for the yellow background areas around the central star.  I think the robot can do a little work too!

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I hope you have a great day!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

Quilts of the Plains 2015 Photos are posted!

QOTP_2015__0317b copyHello everyone.  I’ve had a great, albeit very busy, week in Wray, Colorado.  With the help of many people, and many area businesses, we pulled off the 16th Annual Quilts of the Plains outdoor quilt show, this past Saturday, June 27, 2015.

We had a great array of wonderful quilts entered into the show, including many from far, far away.  Our Viewer’s selected a lovely quilt by Valerie from Dove Creek, Colorado.  They also awarded a total of 8 ribbons for the best in category voting.  I’ve uploaded a photo gallery of all of the quilts.  I think they all are winning quilts.  Mixed in, you will also see some street and sidewalk shots.  Perhaps, I caught you looking at the beautiful quilts, or driving down the street.  You’ll see the kind of businesses that line our streets, and help to make Wray such a wonderful place to live, work, shop, or even visit.

Of course, photos never do full justice of an event like this.  I do hope it’s a useful resource though, for quilters who entered or viewed the show, as well as a shameless promotion of our town, our people, and our humble little quilt show on the plains in Colorado.  I hope it makes you want to be a part of it in the future.

Have fun looking through the gallery.  I’ve made smaller versions of the photos, so it will load quickly on your computer, phone or tablet with ease.  If you have a need for a more detailed image, I can provide that on a request basis for you.

Thanks for supporting quilting in Wray, and for your continued interest in my life, art and blog.  I’d really appreciate if you could share this with others, and leave a comment when you stop by the blog.  It really adds a richness to the place.

I hope you have been inspired, and this will manifest in your creative life, whatever that may be.

Happy Quilting & Quilt Viewing,

Fellow Quilter,

Brian Clements

The Edge of Paradise

Hello everyone.  For today’s photo challenge, I’m taking it back to quilting.  The assignment, “to capture an edge”.  Of course to me… I think of the edge of a quilt, the binding.

This quilt has 4 different treatments to the binding, but today, I’m going to give you a detail shot of the flowers, accented by the edge treatment between the center and the border.  I really love color, and the combinations in this quilt are perfect.

bird of paradise quilt wp_1024I paper-pieced this beautiful quilt nearly 10 years ago.  Bird-of-Paradise blooms are one of my favorite flowers, and I just love this design.

Have you tried paper piecing before?  It is time consuming, but the results are such perfect, sharp points.  I’ve learned a few different methods over the years.  If you are curious, a link to a paper piecing tutorial can be found here.  This is the way, I do it nowadays.

Happy Quilting,

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

 

Look what I found

Hello everyone.  One of the great things about blogging is to engage with other bloggers.  I’ve been checking out some great photos and also some cool writers blogs.  One such blogger posted a really neat close up photo of a piano.  More specifically the insides of a piano.  You can find the photos at https://wordpress.com/read/post/id/36807166/103/

What caught my attention was the way the light played across the different parts.  The strings, the pins, and the felt all had different reaction to the light.

We should translate these ideas into our quilt projects.  How is the light going to bounce across the patches?  How does it look up close?  Is it dynamic when viewed from a distance?  Don’t be afraid to think about these types of questions.  There isn’t usually a right/wrong idea.  Develop your own eye for what looks good to you.  Your admirers will take notice.

I decided to add a little poll for my readers.  I’ll keep track, and I’ll update the results in a future post.  Click here to take my 30-second poll.

I hope this journey is inspiring to you.  Thanks again to GrayDaysAndCoffee for inspiring me.

Have a great day!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

Quilts of the Plains 2014 – Another Year of BEAUTIFUL Quilts!

QOTP_2014_Image_001Hello everyone.  It’s been a busy summer here in Wray, Colorado.  We did host the annual Quilts of the Plains show on Main Street on June 21, 2014.  Once again, the antique quilts and the smaller items were showcased at our gorgeous Wray Museum.

Thanks to all the sponsors, volunteers, and especially the quilters!  The winning quilt was by Hazel Chapman and her Grand-daughter.  It was a beautiful appliqued quilt.

I won’t say a lot, but just invite you to peruse the show, by way of the photos I captured that day.  I really appreciate if you could leave a comment about the show – perhaps your favorite quilt, or something relevant to the show.

The photos can be viewed at my Quilts of the Plains 2014 Photo Album

I hope you are enjoying this blog.

Miniatures Wins!

Hello everyone,
Just an update to let you followers know that the Miniatures quilt won Professional Best of Show at the Yuma County Fair in Colorado.
In addition, the award I sponsor, for best use of color in a quilt, was awarded to my good friend and customer, Chris Wade of Wray!!!
Good job, Chris. I saw you (your quilt anyway) at the fair!!! LOL

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